Might & Magic X - Interview @ Worthplaying

Q: To you, which features are now outdated? How do you keep the balance between “old school” sensibilities and today’s "state of the art" standards?
A: One of the strengths of the Might & Magic RPG series is the fact the previous games always aimed for greater accessibility. MM2 introduced the automap feature, MM3 had one of the very first questlogs – maybe even THE first one. The series quickly embraced mouse control, icons and colors to make the information clearer, etc. Thanks to that, a game like World of Xeen remains very playable today and has aged better than other RPGs of its time (not speaking of the technical side of course).
For Might & Magic X - Legacy, we tried to maintain this tradition of accessibility. Accessibility, by the way, is not to be confused with simplification. Accessibility is not about making the game less complex, but making it easier to use and understand. So Might & Magic X has detailed tooltips, clear signs and feedback, drag-and-drop interface, quick-action bar, etc. Nothing extraordinary, but important features players are used to finding in modern RPGs.
One thing we didn’t keep from the older games is the need to “validate” your level-up by spending gold in a training center. This seemed a little too old-school and in a grid-based game would have meant a tedious amount of backtracking.

-- In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. Douglas AdamsThere are no facts, only interpretations. Nietzsche Some cause happiness wherever they go; others whenever they go. Oscar Wilde

I'm actually happy about that. I've never really liked sword and sorcery fantasy mixed in with sci-fi elements. I didn't like that with the early Ultima games and I didn't like that with M&M either. So I'm glad to see that go.

-- If I'm right but there is no wife around to acknowledge it, am I still right?

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
I'm actually happy about that. I've never really liked sword and sorcery fantasy mixed in with sci-fi elements. I didn't like that with the early Ultima games and I didn't like that with M&M either. So I'm glad to see that go.

I'm with you. I still love the MM games. But, i could have done without the sci-fi stuff. Didn't Wizardry even has sci-fi blended into the game. I remember a little space ship come down at the start of W7.

Originally Posted by TheMadGamer
I've never really liked sword and sorcery fantasy mixed in with sci-fi elements.

You don't sound like much of a Star Wars fan.

Many old-school CRPGs had sci-fi elements, including Ultima, M&M, Wizardry.
I didn't mind them mixing genres… just when you think you've seen everything and are getting a little bored; you find a blaster or a pyramid ship.

I'm a massive Star Wars fan, but even I felt the M&M sci-fi stuff was out of place. It was too abrupt, coming out of nowhere: "Here you go, why don't you replace that bow with this insanely overpowered blaster and go face some robots instead of dragons?"

Also, it's not even mentioned in the HoMM franchise, which means it's even more out of place considering they actually share story. I prefer the HoMM version of the story, but overall it's probably even.

I'm sad to get a confirmation of the fact that it's grid based. But…why? At least the last 4 titles in the series where free moving, so it feels like a weird step backwards. I'm not THAT nostalgic. Otherwise everything sounds fine…but I wouldn't mind som Sci Fi influences, I really liked that part of some good old gems (no spelling error) like Wizardry 8.

This is quite old news I fear - not the Watch reporting on the interview, mind, but the actual answers which seem a lot like copy&paste from the one the Codex did a few weeks back.
You might rather mention the second part of the Q&A over at Celestial Heavens instead - that one actually casts some new light on the game's development.
(http://www.celestialheavens.com/viewpage.php?id=818)

Yes, I thought this interview looked familiar… Worthplaying cut and pasted the answers from an RPG Codex interview a week earlier, and rephrased the questions. While not exactly plagiarizing since they did rewrite Codex’s questions, it certainly is lazy and unethical reporting.

Originally Posted by Vindicator
You don't sound like much of a Star Wars fan.

Well, I liked Star Wars Episodes IV - VI but I - III not so much. I get your point that my comments seem a little inconsistent that I would like Star Wars sci-fi which certainly has 'magic' in the form of 'the force.' I guess it's just the way the Star Wars canon evolved and the force seemed believable in a sci-fi setting.

Originally Posted by Vindicator
Many old-school CRPGs had sci-fi elements, including Ultima, M&M, Wizardry. I didn't mind them mixing genres… just when you think you've seen everything and are getting a little bored; you find a blaster or a pyramid ship.

I played most of the games you listed. Didn't like the sci-fi elements in any of the ones I played. It may be that playing a game which you interact with versus a movie you watch which is passive may be the difference for me.

I just don't prefer sci-fi mixed in with swords and sorcery fantasy of videogames. There is nothing wrong or bad about it, I just personally don't prefer it.

-- If I'm right but there is no wife around to acknowledge it, am I still right?

Originally Posted by Maylander
I'm a massive Star Wars fan, but even I felt the M&M sci-fi stuff was out of place. It was too abrupt, coming out of nowhere: "Here you go, why don't you replace that bow with this insanely overpowered blaster and go face some robots instead of dragons?"

Also, it's not even mentioned in the HoMM franchise, which means it's even more out of place considering they actually share story. I prefer the HoMM version of the story, but overall it's probably even.

I'm not sure about M&M 6 and above since I haven't played them as much but with M&M 1 - 5 the sci-fi elements were the basis of the story which was about Corak chasing Sheltem from planet to planet.You can check out the background of Sheltem and Corek which was essentially the first 5 Might & Magic games at http://mightandmagic.wikia.com/wiki/Sheltem and also this is the entire basis for the Might & Magic universe.

Originally Posted by guenthar
I'm not sure about M&M 6 and above since I haven't played them as much but with M&M 1 - 5 the sci-fi elements were the basis of the story which was about Corak chasing Sheltem from planet to planet.You can check out the background of Sheltem and Corek which was essentially the first 5 Might & Magic games at http://mightandmagic.wikia.com/wiki/Sheltem and also this is the entire basis for the Might & Magic universe.

Spoiler –After MM5

Both HoMM and MM6-8 are also based on worlds touched by that conflict, but it's never mentioned in HoMM and in MM6-7 everything is 100% fantasy until you reach the very end, where all of a sudden you're told about a galactic conflict and given insanely overpowered futuristic guns to replace your bows.

In short: The sci-fi elements are completely out of place, and I prefer the story and world of HoMM to that of MM, as HoMM only deals with the conflicts of Enroth and not all the Ancients/VARN stuff.

Originally Posted by TimtheTaxMan
Sorry the DRM on this ruined it for me and I am a big classic dungeon crawl fan. I own 1-9, but until the DRM on this gets less draconian, I am out.

In fact, I'll bet that if online activation was on the other ones, they wouldn't even work anymore or I'd have to buy them again.

'One time activation' is the leanest DRM there is, in fact I prefer it to the old 'put CD in drive' DRM that most games had until a few years ago. I have no problem with that. And if the company goes down, you can always take 45 seconds to find a patch to remove it in the Internetz.

Both HoMM and MM6-8 are also based on worlds touched by that conflict, but it's never mentioned in HoMM and in MM6-7 everything is 100% fantasy until you reach the very end, where all of a sudden you're told about a galactic conflict and given insanely overpowered futuristic guns to replace your bows.

In short: The sci-fi elements are completely out of place, and I prefer the story and world of HoMM to that of MM, as HoMM only deals with the conflicts of Enroth and not all the Ancients/VARN stuff.

Actually the heroes from the first 3 games were in M&M VII after get lost on the way to XEEN.

Originally Posted by guenthar
Actually the heroes from the first 3 games were in M&M VII after get lost on the way to XEEN.

Yes, I know, you meet them near the end when you get told about the galactic conflict. Hence why I said "everything is 100% fantasy until you reach the very end, where all of a sudden you're told about a galactic conflict".

Until then, it's all about running Harmondale to the best of your abilities by trying to keep the peace despite conflicts with several nations. It's quite unlike most fantasy, and I really enjoyed it that part of the game.

Edit: In fact, the Harmondale part of MM7 (which is the majority) is probably some of the most enjoyable gaming I've ever experienced. Fixing the castle, dealing with Erathia/Avlee and Bracada/Deyja and so on and so forth is a lot of fun, and none of it is standard "save the world" stuff.